The black cape has a lot of symbolic meanings, beyond being just a fashion trend for ‘gothic’ Witches. Wearing any kind of ceremonial garb is a technique for helping you to leave the mundane, everyday world and enter into the special, magickal realm of ritual. If you’re working with a group, like a coven meeting, wearing a kind of occult uniform helps to visually demonstrate unity and encourage everyone to work with a singular focus. For me, having the black cape draped over my shoulders prepares me for the inward journey into the subconscious required for all magickal work. The white lining symbolizes the enlightenment and power waiting there between the worlds for me to tap into.
Usually when it is time for ritual at coven meetings and gatherings, everyone removes their capes – ritual work nearly always requires working with fire and you don’t want capes lighting up as people dance around flaming cauldrons or lean over burning candles on altars! Witches are also usually careful not to wear garments with big, draping sleeves that could knock over altar tools and drag in bowls of water. Long, simple robes, usually black, are often worn by both sexes and sometimes specifically coloured robes are made for different events; for instance, white is worn for full moon rituals and often red is popular for Sabbats.
As I mentioned earlier, unless it’s cold, I work skyclad at home. This means naked and it has nothing to do with debauchery and sex! To a Witch the naked body represents the dropping of illusions and social masks; to us the human body is sacred and needs no tricks or props to make it Divine and empowered. Clothes can also sometimes present a barrier to raising power, and in groups they can be a barrier to unity as they can indicate potentially divisive situations like lower income and differing social status. The theory is: when everyone is naked, everyone is equal. Witches aim not to be intimidated by cultural stereotypes, and in ritual would not consider older bodies to be less attractive than younger ones, nor slimmer bodies to be more appealing than fatter ones – in Circle all bodies are beautiful, sacred and honoured.
The only group gatherings that I’ve attended skyclad have been exclusively for women – like the Wemoon weekend discussed in the ‘Witches Are All Rite’ chapter. It is very rare for a large mixed group of strangers to gather naked, usually out of respect for individual preferences – though many smaller initiated covens work skyclad 99% of the time. Within these groups members are well-known to each other and committed to the coven, and have the tolerance and support to deal with situations that occasionally arise when working skyclad. For example, some guys when attending their first few skyclad group Circles (especially if they’re young) will get a hard-on – from nerves. No true Wiccan would think anything negative about it and inexperienced female Witches don’t need to feel threatened sexually if this happens. Nakedness is sacred and sexual, procreative energy is honoured as Divine by Wiccans and so no-one needs to feel embarrassed.
Most Witches have a special piece of jewellery that they always wear for ritual work. Traditionally, women wear a necklace of amber and jet, or a large silver bracelet that is inscribed with meaningful symbols; and men wear a silver ring which can be also inscribed. Personally, I change my ritual jewellery periodically as I don’t like to become too attached to a singular piece and run the risk of becoming dependent upon it. For example, if I decided that my silver moon ring was my ‘power object’ and I had to have it for any bona fide ritual work or spellcasting, then I would be externalizing my power which is ultimately destructive. If I lost the ring it would also be tempting to consider that a ‘bad omen’ – which is succumbing to the consumerist notion that the accumulation of material goods will bring success and happiness. I like to change my ritual jewellery according to the sort of work I’m doing and the mood I’m in. I have a wonderful, enormous amber sphere set in a silver pendant that I often wear for rituals that require a lot of meditation, since amber can be used to assist grounding and centring. I also love my Celtic pewter and amethyst pentacle necklace which I wear when I want to announce to the world that I am a Witch!
Many Western Witches mark themselves with tattoos much like the shamans and witchdoctors of indigenous peoples. Symbolic designs and talismans have been painted on the skin to enhance and commemorate spiritual practices since the time of our earliest ancestors. A lot of Witches have pentagrams tattooed somewhere on their bodies or perhaps Egyptian symbols like the ankh and Eye of Horus – whatever visually expresses their particular paths and experiences.
I have four tattoos, each one representing a major Witchy turning point in my life. Above my left ankle is my first tattoo. It is the symbol ‘69’ representing my star sign, Cancer, and above is the noonday sun and below the waxing moon, both being symbols that I equated with positive, forward moving energy. At the time I was twenty-three and feeling good about myself and my life. I wanted a tattoo that, when I looked at it, would remind me not to take life for granted and to celebrate every day that I am alive.
The next tattoo I had done a couple of years later is on the right-hand side of my lower back and is a shark backed by a spray of water. My first scuba dive involved a private, introductory dive in the waters just off Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia. The instructor and I had only descended a few metres and I was just getting used to breathing underwater (definitely a bit of a claustrophobic experience at first!) when a five-foot bronze whaler shark glided by about two metres in front of me. I was stunned: the biggest fear you can have as a fledgling diver is of sharks and here was a big one (everything looks magnified underwater) with a reputation as a bit of a ‘snapper’ (i.e. known to bite humans)! But after a reassuring squeeze of my hand by my instructor, I relaxed and just watched this magnificent creature swim. Watery sunbeams glanced off its tawny brown skin as its long, thick body weaved effortlessly through the water, circling us. I felt that it was communicating telepathically to me saying, ‘Just watch me; you’re in my territory now but I am happy to share it with you.’ I was in awe and even more thrilled when a second shark suddenly appeared out of the murky depths. It was a sleek grey nurse, and together they swam around us in graceful arcs for another five minutes before moving away out of sight.
Later, back on shore, I stared at the ocean for an hour, its calm blue surface belying the existence of a busy, thriving alien world below that I could now visit every day if I wished. Diving is really like going to another planet and when I had the shark tattooed on my back I thought about how nothing is necessarily what it first appears to be, or ever completely predictable. The Universe and my place in it is in a constant state of enriching, surprising and stimulating flux, where dangers can be safe, safety can be suffocating and the key to physical and spiritual evolution is to be prepared to explore and love the unknown and the unfamiliar.
Another tattoo I have is a Knot of Eternity on my left inner wrist. It is a design of two short loops and one long loop of rope weaving in and out of each other into a square shape, consisting of nine inner and eight outer spaces. It is a mandala of contemplation and Buddists consider it the pattern of their Enlightened One’s entrails as they are arranged while he is sitting in meditation. I got this done in early 1993 after a particularly traumatic experience overseas when touring with my band. I thought I would never get through this experience but I did and the Knot of Eternity will always remind me that what doesn’t kill you, can make you stronger and the more sorrow carves out of you, the more joy you can ultimately pour in.
Finally I have a large tattoo of the skull of a water dragon crowning an interlaced band around my upper left arm. This I had done in late 1995 and it celebrates a profound period of personal growth involving the magickal exploration of the inner, darker realms of my psyche. In mythologies from many different cultures the dragon has traditionally represented the underworld, the subconscious, as well as the astral realm. Essentially a serpent with wings, it can ‘burrow deep’ and ‘fly high’. Water is the element most associated with emotions